


Should Have Been Us

by Tornainbow



Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters (TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/F, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, TBH Valentine's Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tornainbow/pseuds/Tornainbow
Summary: In fifth grade Jessica Henley wins Most Popular.April’s lips purse, covering her gritted teeth, and feels tears beginning to sting the corner of her eyes. Daddy had said the prettiest girl always wins Most Popular and April wanted it so badly. She expected to lose to Sterling Wesley, but...Jessica H.?Ridiculous. Unacceptable.For @BlazeJd on twitter for the 2021 TBH Valentine's Exchange.
Relationships: April Stevens/Sterling Wesley
Comments: 12
Kudos: 110





	Should Have Been Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlazeJd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazeJd/gifts).



In fifth grade Jessica Henley wins Most Popular. Luke Creswelll asks her out on the spot with a grin and of course she says yes. Nobody is surprised, per se. It’s absolutely run of the mill for the girl and boy voted most popular to end up dating into middle school.

But someone is furious.

April’s lips purse, covering her gritted teeth, and feels tears beginning to sting the corner of her eyes. Daddy had said the prettiest girl always wins Most Popular and April _wanted_ it so badly. She expected to lose to Sterling Wesley, but...Jessica H.?

Ridiculous. Unacceptable.

April is considering all the arguments she can present to the teacher during recess about a run-off of the top three when ten-year-old Sterling Wesley crashes into her side, freed from the confines of assigned seating. Sterling immediately grabs April’s hand and drags them out of class and onto the playground pitch.

“I can’t believe you didn’t win!” Sterling says into April’s perfect ponytail. “I even told Blair to vote for you but I’m thinking maybe she didn’t.”

April rolls her eyes. “She voted for you, obviously.”

Blair Wesley and April Stevens are rivals—for Sterling’s time and attention—and there would be no voting for each other, ever, unless it was Most Annoying. The only time this wasn’t true was for anyone not included in their little trio and everyone in the fifth grade knew this to be an immutable fact. Don’t mess with Blair or April, and _definitely_ don’t mess with Sterling unless you wanted to deal with Blair _and_ April.

Sterling shrugs. “Well, I still think you should have won.” She swings their hands back and forth between them.

“You should have won,” April says easily. “You are the prettiest girl in our class after all.”

“What? No way,” Sterling scoffs. “You’re, like, _perfect_.”

Getting compliments from Sterling feels a lot like scoring an A+ on the advanced vocabulary test and seeing her father put it up on the kitchen fridge—but different. April doesn’t want to share _this_ feeling with anyone but Sterling and the affection that fills April is overwhelming. She doesn’t know what to do with it and all she can end up articulating is, “I think you’re perfect too.”

Sterling’s smile is blinding. “This is why we’re best friends!”

And it feels _so_ right.

*****

In eighth grade, Blair gets a boyfriend named Matt and they go on a date to the movies Friday night. Debbie and Anderson decide they _also_ want to go to the same movie at the exact same time and day and despite how much Blair complains and tries to convince them that chaperones are antiquated and _not cool_ , all four of them head out for dinner and a movie.

April and Sterling are left home alone, mostly because April had set up their homework on the dining room table in front of Sterling's parents and when Debbie picked up the phone to get a babysitter, April said with that sickly sweet voice she saved for parents, teachers, and their pastor, “We’re just going to be working on our homework tonight, Mrs. Wesley, and my parents told me I don’t need a babysitter anymore since I’m a teenager now.”

Sterling looks up and delivers _the smile_ with perfect timing. “Yeah, we’ve got a huge project due on Monday.”

Debbie takes in April’s beaming cheekbones, the spread of schoolwork, and hangs up the phone. “You know, you’re right. I think you two are old enough to take care of yourselves for a night.”

Blair’s jaw drops, because she knows there is no “huge project” and exclaims, “How come we need a babysitter and they don’t?”

“Because you’re going on a date, young lady,” Debbie shoots back, “and your sister and April are being responsible students.”

Blair locks eyes with Sterling, _C’mon! Get Mom and Dad to stay home!_

 _What? No way, why would I do that?_ Sterling tries to brush her off.

 _I wanted to makeout tonight and that’s not going to happen with the rents one seat over_ , Blair glares dramatically, _You two are probably just going to do homework. For real. Take one for the team._

 _Nope. We’re eating s’mores for dinner_ , Sterling grins smugly.

_Ugh, you two are so boring._

“You’re doing it again.” April’s voice snaps the twins out of their silent staredown. Sterling looks over to find April giving the two of them _a look_. Blair had once asked April flat out if she could overhear them, but April had just been confused and it was enough to satisfy Blair that April wasn’t actually tapping into their super secret twin speak.

Later that evening, after being left to their own devices, after the s’mores for dinner and meticulously cleaning up the evidence, Sterling and April found themselves relaxing in Sterling’s bed. Nobody was due back for at least another hour.

April did end up doing homework, of a sort, by bringing out a book they were assigned to read for class, but the report wasn’t due for another month. She reads it while leaning against the headboard of the bed with Sterling’s head resting against her thigh. She holds the book in one hand while running her fingers through Sterling’s hair with the other. Taylor Swift’s _Red_ album plays in the background on shuffle while Sterling listens quietly and enjoys the way April’s fingers scratch softly at the base of her skull.

Sterling’s thoughts drift aimlessly about life, about God, about school, then inevitably about Blair. Blair having a boyfriend and being on a date. Blair, maybe not tonight, getting to makeout with her boyfriend. Sterling likes the idea of kissing, but hasn’t really felt the pull to get a boyfriend the way Blair had, and April always haughtily said that boyfriends were just a distraction from studies.

Because Sterling has a habit of thinking out loud, she tilts her head against April’s thigh to look up and say, “Do you like anyone, April?”

April’s fingers go still in Sterling’s hair, but she doesn’t look down. She says, casually, “What do you mean?”

“You know, do you _like-like_ anyone?”

“I’ve told you before I don’t waste time with boyfriends.”

“Yeah,” Sterling says. “But even if you don’t want a boyfriend...isn’t there anyone you have a crush on?”

April is quiet for a moment before saying, definitively, “No,” and before Sterling can keep going, April puts her book down and adds, “Why are you asking?” She looks down at Sterling.

Something about the piercing way April is looking at her makes Sterling turn her gaze away. “I dunno, you’ve never really said, so I was wondering,” she says. Sterling sees a fray on April’s jeans, and idly begins to pick at it with her thumb. “Blair seems so excited to kiss Matt. _Lots_ of girls in our grade seem excited about kissing.”

“You’re not crazy about it.” April chuckles and her fingers begin to play with Sterling’s hair again. “I, for one, am not envious of Blair having a sloppy, gross makeout session as her first kiss. I have more dignity than that.”

“I mean, I’m not going to lose my mind over some guy the way, you know, some girls...but I’ve thought about it a little,” Sterling replies, but latches onto April’s last words. She tilts her head up and asks, “What do you want your first kiss to be like?”

“Romantic,” April says matter-of-fact, “and sweet.”

Sterling nudges April’s hip with her shoulder at how confident April sounds. “Well, duh, but how do you make sure that happens?”

April’s hand suddenly lands on Sterling’s, and Sterling’s heart skyrockets, but then she sees that she’s pulled a thread loose from April’s jeans and April was just stopping the subconscious fretting.

April doesn’t move her hand when she says, “What do you mean?”

“If you’ve never kissed anyone, how do you know how to do it?”

April shrugs. “I read a lot. I think I’ve got the gist, but I’m not interested in being slobbered over by a smelly teenage boy,” April says, spitting out the last word.

“Ew, gross, yeah,” Sterling agrees, maybe too easily, then she sits up suddenly on both hands and looks at April with a wild look in her eye, “Can you show me?”

April’s whole body goes stiff. “What?” She crosses her arms.

“Can you show me how to kiss?” Sterling presses.

“How am I supposed to do _that_?” April’s eyes dart about Sterling’s room, landing on the door to the hallway briefly like she wanted to make a break for it.

Despite April’s reaction, Sterling feels more sure about the idea and she rambles unthinking, “We could practice with each other. Like, we could be each other’s first kiss and it won’t be gross or anything.”

April gives Sterling a hard look and it’s only in that moment that Sterling begins to doubt her suggestion. April says, quietly, like someone might overhear her, “Sterl, that’s...isn’t that against the Bible?”

Something in Sterling’s gut doesn’t feel worried about her faith. She knows God loves her no matter what. “It’s just a kiss, right? So we won’t have gross first kisses.” The more she says it, the more Sterling likes the idea. “We’re not, like, getting married.”

April closes her eyes and takes deep, even breaths. Sterling knows better than to interrupt, that April is thinking _very_ hard about what she’s going to say next. After a minute, April finally looks Sterling square in the eye. “This would be my first kiss—with anyone. It’s not just practice to me.”

“What if I said I _wanted_ you to be my first kiss?” It’s out of Sterling’s mouth before she realizes it, but she knows it’s true. April is very pretty. Any of the boys in their grade would be lucky to kiss her and Sterling feels herself warming up to the idea of being that lucky person instead.

It must have been the exact right thing to say because Sterling can see the way April’s eyes melt just a little. April says in a soft whisper, “Do you really?” and bites her lip.

Sterling eyes dart down to April’s lips and she’s getting distracted by the way her heart is starting to thump loudly throughout her whole body. She swallows nervously and looks back up at April, nodding.

Sterling is already half-leaning over April and she’s in the middle of figuring out if she’s supposed to move to give April space or get into a better position to lean in and just go for it, but then April leans forward and cups Sterling’s cheek. It makes Sterling’s mind go blank and a little of her face starts tingling pleasantly as it goes numb, and she can’t do anything but close her eyes when April closes the distance between them and softly presses their lips together.

Sterling inhales sharply through her nose. It feels...great...soft...sweet. It only lasts a couple of seconds, at first. April pulls away and they blink at each other in a daze, then April leans in again and this time the kiss is just a little bit more.

When they pull away again, Sterling whispers in the space between them, “That was...awesome.”

April is smiling bigger than Sterling has ever seen and Sterling knows she definitely wants to do that again.

“Yeah,” April says, voice shaking, “It was.”

*****

In junior year, April is sleeping over again—nobody questions just how often the two of them spend together, though Blair has been hounding Sterling a lot more in the recent weeks about how Sterling and April are thick as thieves and she wants to know what they’re up to. It’s easy enough to tell Blair, “You’ve been all over Jennings. Who else am I supposed to hang out with?” But outside of Blair, the two highest achieving students in their class are the least of anyone else’s concern.

They definitely take advantage of that.

Blair had snuck out earlier, taking Anderson’s hunting truck off to God knows where to do God knows what with Jennings, but April and Sterling quickly locked eyes, then Sterling was quick to wave Blair off with the promise of covering for her if their parents asked where she was.

After dinner, Debbie and Anderson settle in for a movie. Sterling and April feign homework—it’s a week night—and rush upstairs. April locks the bedroom door and Sterling locks the bathroom door. It’s ritual by this point, they’ve done this so many times—especially recently, especially since the summer.

April had invited the twins and some other Fellowship friends over to her family’s lakehouse for a couple of weeks. Had it been the heat of the Atlanta sun, or did April look _hot_ in her bikini? Sterling had purposefully leaned in close to watch April’s knitting technique and the tension between them was crackling. Or rather, Sterling felt like she was losing her mind over how she suddenly went from thinking _it’s really nice to kiss April_ to _I really want to do a lot more than kissing with April_ , but Sterling is the type of young woman to go with her gut. She had felt up April for the first time that night while making out, secluded away from their friends in April’s room on the second floor while everyone else slept in the first floor guest rooms.

Since then, they’ve been pushing the boundaries further and further recently, but they haven’t talked about it. They rarely do.

“Sterl,” April whispers hotly against Sterling’s neck, hovering on top of her and pawing at the hem of Sterling’s shirt. “I want to...can I…?”

Since school had started, they had been making excuses to _not_ go further, but it was so hard to ignore the building desire. Sterling could see it in April’s eyes and Sterling knew she was doing a poor job of hiding it because Blair had stopped making a fuss about all the alone time Sterling and April had together.

Sterling pulls back and sits up. “This...isn’t nothing to you, right?” she asks shakily.

April cups Sterling’s cheek and, as always, Sterling feels her maxilla goes numb. “No,” April says, more fervently than any prayer Sterling has ever heard April whisper, “you’re more than just my best friend. You're...everything to me.”

Sterling pulls April back in and crushes their lips together, reaching down and grabbing April’s hand. She pushes it under the hem of her shirt, then higher, and cups April’s hand hard around her breast.

April moans, and they lose themselves in each other, but the doors are locked and nobody knows better.

***

Later that night, Blair and Sterling are brushing their teeth in the shared bathroom. Blair spits, then says, randomly, “I think I’m ready to go all the way.”

Sterling looks over at her despite how much she wants to spill everything to Blair in that moment, all she says is, “With Jennings? Really?”

Blair’s eyebrows are nearly to the roof. “Oh, and what’s my other option, my bestest friend April Stevens?”

Sterling chokes on her toothpaste, coughs, and takes her time to wash her mouth out before replying, “ _What?_ ”

Blair continues nonchalantly, “I swear I can hear _Take Me to Church_ playing whenever you two think nobody is looking.”

Sterling’s mouth gapes open up and down as she struggles for a response.

“Also,” Blair looks at Sterling with a smug look in her eye, “we totally crossed paths in the driveway. Was that, dare I say, _sex hair_?”

Sterling’s eyes go wide. She isn’t supposed to say.

“Did you, Sterling Wesley, have _sexual relations_ before me?” Blair eggs on.

"Blair!” Sterling’s face is beet red. "Keep your voice down!"

“And I thought I was the slutty twin.”

**End**


End file.
